


A Second Chance to Tell Her

by saxgoddess25



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, One Shot, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 05:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13804071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saxgoddess25/pseuds/saxgoddess25
Summary: Red was able to save Snow in the nick of time, but the battered princess has taken a turn for the worst. Her kiss goodbye gives them a second chance, one that Red won't waste.





	A Second Chance to Tell Her

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Melime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/gifts).



Snow whimpered.

“Shh, you’re going to be okay,” Red soothed, barely rasping out the words around the lump in her throat, while she wiped a damp cloth across Snow’s brow. She was burning with fever, dropping in and out of consciousness as the sickness overtook her. 

By all rights she should already be dead; it had been a close call. Snow was pretty good at staying one step ahead of the queen and her men, but this time she’d walked right into an ambush. Only chance had brought Red through that part of the woods in time to see her friend go down, and in her rage and panic, her first instinct was to become the wolf. She’d left the soldiers in pieces, and though she cringed a little now to think about it, she wasn’t sorry. Not when she’d witnessed the brutality with which they’d treated Snow after she’d gone down.

“Red?” It was the barest hint of a whisper as she struggled to open her eyes.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Wh-what…wh-where…?”

“We’re safe. The queen’s never going to find us here. Don’t worry about anything else right now but getting better, okay?”

“Hurts.” Snow sounded so young when she said that. Red felt her heart shattering a little.

“I know. I’m sorry, sweetheart.” She set the cloth down and looked to the cup of cold tea nearby. It was made from bitter herbs that the wise woman had given her to numb Snow’s pain, but if she let her drink it, it would knock her out again. It was selfish, but she needed these moments when her friend was lucid, to reassure herself that she wasn’t about to slip away any second and never wake again. “I’ll give you something for the pain in a few minutes. Just,” she took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, “just stay with me right now. Please.”

Snow’s eyes finally opened to fix on her, though they were glazed with pain and fever. Red grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze and then just holding it, her heart thudding when Snow smiled at her. Even in her patched clothes, covered in a sheen of sweat, and her hair an unruly tangle, she was the most beautiful thing Red had ever seen. Like an angel. How anyone could hunt her as though- as though she was an animal…

A low growl rose to her throat, but she kept it there. She didn’t want to frighten Snow, though she couldn’t hide the anger and despair that still showed in her eyes. The evil queen was going to pay for this. If Snow died…

She couldn’t think that way. Snow was going to make it. She was a fighter.

Even though the sickness was progressing unnaturally quickly, and nothing Red did helped. Like the soldiers’ weapons had been poisoned. Or cursed. If Snow died, Red was going to make the queen’s life a living hell, and then she was going to end her. She swore the oath deep in her bones, feeding the animalistic rage into it to keep from trashing the ramshackle hut where they’d holed up.

“Your eyes are yellow.” Snow’s voice was dreamy, like she’d forgotten what Red was, what she could do.

“Yes, I’m,” she couldn’t say the words out loud, so she settled for, “they do that sometimes. When I’m upset.”

“I think they’re beautiful. You’re so beautiful.”

Snow was clearly delirious. Red sighed and looked at the cup again, before reaching over and picking it up. “You are too, Snow. The fairest of them all. Now drink this. It will take the pain away for a while.”

A little smile settled on the princess’ lips, as though it was a secret joke that they shared. Red lifted her head up as gently as she could so that she could drink, offering a sad smile of her own when she made a face at how bad it tasted. The grimace only lasted a few moments before Snow let out a sigh, her eyes fluttering closed as sleep claimed her again. 

* * *

 

Red woke with a start. The fire had burned down to embers and the hut was dark. Her ears strained for the sound of what might have woken her, wolf’s senses keenly on alert, but she heard nothing out of the ordinary. Except…

Her eyes flashed immediately to the cot where her friend lay. There was no movement at all, no rise and fall of her chest, and no sound of her labored breathing. Panic started to rise within Red, heart pounding as she scrambled over to Snow’s side and saw how pale she was, how her eyes were open and staring at the ceiling.

“No…no, no, no, no, no! Snow!”

She started to shake her as the tears welled up in her eyes. Snow’s skin was still warm to the touch, though clammy; it couldn’t have been long since she’d stopped breathing. “Don’t leave me!” she pleaded. The moments ticked past with no response, and the air just went out of Ruby’s lungs. “I love you,” she whispered, the first tears starting to slide down her cheeks. Her head drooped and she rested it on her shoulder. So many thoughts swirled through Red’s head, but mostly she just felt helpless. All of the rage and pain that she should be feeling weren’t there, like they were held behind a mental dam. In their place was overwhelming sadness, and the realization that Snow would never know how she felt about her. It was a dull ache in her heart that prompted her to lift her head and place a gentle kiss on those soft pink lips. A kiss goodbye.

Except that it wasn’t. The moment that their lips touched, she felt a surge of energy between them that left her reeling. She broke away with a gasp, looking down as Snow’s eyes popped open. They were clear and bright, focusing on her easily. It was such an abrupt change from the haze of her fever that all Red could do was gape at her. The two of them stared at each other for several heartbeats, then Red pulled her up and hugged her tightly. Snow groaned in pain - obviously the wounds were still there, even if the infection was not - but her arms wrapped around Red and held her just the same.

“Oh gods, I thought I lost you,” Red sobbed into her hair, and received a comforting squeeze in response.

“What happened?”

“I…I don’t know. You weren’t breathing and I couldn’t get you to respond. I k-” her throat seized up without warning on the word, a flood of emotion welling through her in that moment. Snow started rubbing her back, soothing her as she cried, until she could finally say, “I kissed you, and you woke up.”

“You kissed me?”

Red was blushing when Snow pulled back to see her face, though her face was already pink from the tears, so maybe it didn’t show. She definitely couldn’t meet her eyes. That is, until she felt fingers under her chin, gently lifting. Snow’s face was so close, and she didn’t look disgusted, which was always Red’s greatest fear. She’d been petrified that if Snow discovered her feelings, she’d push her away, not wanting to be friends with her any more. By some miracle, that wasn’t happening. Snow was obviously surprised, but she was smiling.

“I love you.” The words weren’t any louder this time than they had been before. “I love you and I thought you were gone.”

“You saved me.” There was wonder in her voice, but the look in her eyes shifted as though she was just recognizing something else. Before Red could even think about what that could be, she was being kissed. It took her brain a few seconds to catch up, but she kissed her back, sighing when it ended. All she could do was nod, and then lean her forehead against Snow’s. “Tell me about everything that happened.”

Red grimaced a little. “It wasn’t pretty.”

“That’s okay, you make up for it.”

Her grimace turned into a laugh, one that verged on hysterical with relief. “Shh. I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

The blush was back, and this time it wasn’t masked by the tears. Snow really was serious. It was suddenly difficult to meet her eyes again, but she told her all that had happened. She told her about the queen’s men, and what she’d done to them, about carrying her through the forest until they’d come to the abandoned crofter’s hut. She spoke of how she’d hurried to the nearest village to find supplies and herbs from the wise woman to help her with the pain. Her voice broke when she spoke of the infection that she couldn’t stop, and her hands gently removed the bandages to check the worst of Snow’s wounds. As she’d suspected, they were still there, but every one of them was clear of the infection and healing nicely.

With great tenderness, she rebandaged with fresh dressings, and after Snow begged her, helped her get up from the cot and walk the few feet over to settle into a pile of furs in front of the fire. It felt like a dream to be laying there with her, kissing occasionally and trying to come to terms with the fact that her best friend felt the same way as she felt about her.

“What do we do now?” Snow asked after one long kiss.

“Well, we stay here until you’re better able to move. Nobody’s going to come out here to bother us for a while, especially with the rumors of wolves prowling in the area.” She said the latter with a certain amount of smugness. There were a few things her curse was good for.

“Can we stay here forever?”

“I’d love to.” She pressed another kiss to Snow’s lips. Truly, she could think of nothing better. “Of course, we’d need to work on the hut. How are you at using a hammer?”

“I’ve never tried. What about you?”

“I haven’t either. I guess we’ll have to learn.”

“I guess we will.”

It was more likely that they’d move on, but it was a nice thing to imagine – sharing a little house with Snow, making a life, not worrying about hunters or soldiers, or the evil queen. Hopefully, they would find that someday. For now, just cuddling there in front of the fire was enough. Red gathered Snow close against her, pulling a blanket up around them. This time, when her eyes closed and her breathing deepened into sleep, she didn’t worry. They were together and everything else would work itself out.

 

 

 


End file.
